Preface

Abstract

The maturity of a subject and that of its authors go together, by definition, and yet it is not alwasys that we can celebrate the two together. This special issue of Philosophical Transactionsprovides a rare opportunity. In it we celebrate the coming of age of an important discovery, namely that casual events in the genesis of human cancers can have a viral component. We also celebrate the work of Sir Anthony Epstein, Whose 80the birthday falls on 18 May 2001, and whose brilliant insights led to this dicovery.